Combination animal crate



July 24, 1923.

11,462,755 A. L. ALLRED COMBINATION ANIMAL CRATE Filed April 18. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 24, B923.

A. L. ALLRED COMBINATION ANIMAL CRATE Filed April 18. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 24, 1923.

A. L. ALLRED COMBINATION ANIMAL CRATE Filed April 18. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 flaps/(2B7 ALALLRED Patented July 24, 1923.

,ABRA'HAM IL. ALLRED, OF-ORYDON, IOWA.

:(DOMBINATION ANIMAL were.

Application =-;fi1e,d April .18, 1922. Serial No. 554,917.

To ccZZkw 7mm, it mq g concern Be it known thatl, ABL HAML. ALL E a citizen of the Un e States of vAme and reside t o Corydon, W yn Cou y, Iowa, have invented asnesvsand useful ,Corn- .bination Anima-lCnate, of which the following is a specification.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved animal ,cnate vadapted for a variety of uses, such as simply confiningthe animal for'transportation orthe like, oruto be tnansfor-medinto avloadingehute, orto be used as anim at hing and hold ng crate, forcomenfinoo in ringing. onperf rm ing other operati nsson th a al- 7 IA furt her object of this invention is to lprov de an improved .oomtmation for can animal crate espe ally adapted for use in holding an enima such as a hog i rela- :ti ely' stationary p tion while "ri ging or otherwise openatmg upon or :trea ngchim,

the vretelling and holding i'unotion o t crate :being aMomatioatter theuanznnal has ained acertain positlon on and .1 relatlve :to

:the ,parts of them-rotefu;rther r hjeot of rt'b'iS invention is -.-to nrovide an 1.1 moved constructon to 4 cnate adapted to permit the zzfre :entltance aflfi hogs nother thereto, pretenting ihziseegress and auto watioalgy catching a holding him upo uattemptlng to leave the Wi h these land othQr-obje ts view, my vinver-ltion consists 11111 "the -construot on, arnangernent and combinat on of elements 1-hereinafter ;set forth pointed out in any claims .and illustrated Joy the accompanying drawing, which v Figure 1; is aa :plan "YleW- Qf al y .imp oved crate ShOW g the areal" doo @open and the forwardcdoor wholly closed. i.Fhgrure-EZ is a side-televation off the samep tly [in sec- ;tion- Figure lislza. front: elevation of th device. Figure A is detail p an vi w r of the: forward portion lot-the device, :on an; enlarg dqscale,zshowmg the fife-reward d ors set in proper xp sition nt aut matically engage rend-:holdahog t Figure 5 is var-rsid- 'ptin-g toleave the-ere-te. c atio shovvingthejdevice imposition ,fiorznsevassa-floetl ng hute.

.111 thezconst uoition of? the device sass shown the numeral 10 designatssze .floor, preter- -alol-y-lo?f solid oonstnuetion having c eats 11 arranged rtranstretselymf ts ow lusurtaee near its nds. 'LRosts --;or =s a11dards 5,12, 13, :14, .15 .rise ;;f-ma:n the corners 0 h sol vice, extending past the floor 10 adjacent and fiXedtop rojec-ting ends ofthe cleats 11. The posts l2, l3 atone sideere connected at therr upper ends by a rail 16 and between thelr ends by spaced slats l7; and the posts 1 4:, 15 on ,theopposite side are connected at their upper ends by arail l8 and between their ends by spaced slats 19. A cross-bar 20 extends across the forward end of the crate, resting on and secured tothe forward ends of the rails 16, 1-8. Inclined braces 21, 22 Ere fixed to and extenddownwardly and rearwardly from the upper endsof the rear posts iaml saidbraces are connected, onthe lforward faces of their lower ends, by a cross-barflid. The slats 17, l9,areextended rearwardly fr m and beyond th ear posts 13,15, progressively, to contact With, and be secured t t e i c i echbracesm, 22. The rear endbf thefloor l0 issubst antially in vthe same vertical plane asthe rear margins of -;t he posts l3, l5,and a rear door 24 is secured vat one margil to :therear end port oncof sa dfi onhy'hinge 25- 'The doo 24= is adap ed o herpli oeda timesin horizon al position ;as a CQIltlillliLtlQILQfcthB fioon its t e ma gin resting loosely on th cros rhracev23, asshowvniin thedrawings; nd i adaptedat times tobe moved through an arc to ve t al position to c ose the rear end of \t he crate. Thecdoorfi is provided with a transverse cleat 26 on itslrear face, near its :freeeend, having its ends project ng b yond the side margin of the door rand adaptedhto ,be. engaged by 'detents; 27, 2,8 pivoted on the inner faces, respectively of the ,rear posts 13, 1 5,:toholdflthe doorin vclosed position. a A. ssebar 29 A also may ,be provided, inter- ,mediate of the crate, engaging and Secured tothelowenfaces of the rails 1,6, 18.

Ayah ofswinging doors, r30, 31 are provided and are adapted Leonjunctively :to close the -fOlWQJd-Blld ,Qfthe device, said doors pivgtgd tO Side 3.115 strep hinges fixed totheir inner faces. The 261002330, 31 do note quite meet at the median ,line rofhthe crate when fully closed,sbut a narrowspace is provided between thennes shown in Figure 3, and further :space is provided in a portion ofth leng h of he 1 do ors by: formingtou v d notc (or 1 seats 33 theirinner. ma ginsbetWee- .thei upp sandii werends, for. aupurpose he nat o be made clear. hafXj-lever e is qc'na oted ;at one endon one-topreiLcs noh a 8,' -y a l ne r the longi udina scenter of a-the de i said doors when closed.

is formed with rearwardly inclined porsaid lever extending across the'device and in sliding contact with the opposite side; rail, such as 16. A ratchet plate 36 is mounted against the inner face and longitudinally of the top rail 16, said ratchet plate having rearwardly directed teeth adapted to be .engaged by a blade 37 fixed to and pro ectmg downwardly from the lever 34. An operating bar 38 is pivoted at one end by a bolt 39 to anintermediate portion of'th'e lever '34 and extends forwardly therefrom, on the median line and at the top of the device,

passing slidingly through a keeper 40 on theforward cross-bar 20. Links 41, 42'are conjunctively pivoted at their'rear ends by a bolt 43 to an intermediate portion of the operating bar 38, extend forwardly at divergent angles toward the doors 30, 31 and are pivoted at their forward ends to eye bolts 44, 45 passing through said doors adjacent their free margins. The bolts 44, 45 may pass through the nd holes of the strap hinges 32. A cross-head'46 is fixed at its center to the forward end of the operating bar 38 and lies in front of the doors 30, 31,

' said doors extending above the plane of the said rod, which occupies'the spacebetween The cross-head 46 tionsat its ends adapted to be received within notches 47 in the upper ends of the doors 30, 31 at their outer margins, and the inner margins of said doors, in the vertical plane of the cross-head, are formed on arcs; so that said cross-head fits snugly agalnst the outer faces of the doors when closed, as

" equal to the width of the doors. The door 24 also may be opened to a position forming a continuation of the floor, and when so arranged the device may be employed as a loading chute in connection with a wagon or truck 48, as shown in Figure 5, the forward end resting on the floor of the vehicle by contact of the lower ends of the posts 12, 14, and th rear end resting on the floor or ground, by contact of the lower ends of the inclined braces 21, 22. If an animal enters but refuses to pass through the crate he may be confined therein by manipulation of'the doors, as is hereafter made more clear, and

the rear end of the device lifted so that it may be slid into the vehicle.

It is obvious'also that the device may be used simply and solely as a crate, for transportation or other purposes, by confining an animal therein by closing and latching the doors by the means provided. When the forward doors are fully closed they are latched in such position by engaging the blade 37 of. the lever with a notch near the rear end of the ratchet bar 36, thus preventing forward movement of the operating bar; and the cross-head fitting closely to and confining the doors and supplementing the holding action through the links.-

The most valuable feature of the device however is that which adapts it to use in confining and holding an animal at the for-' ward end of the crate with his head and jo-wls projecting through and between the forward doors 30,- 31. The animal is: first induced or forced to enter the crate from the rear end, through the door 24, which is then closed manually. First, how-ever, the

forward doors 30, 31- are set manually to partially open position, as indicated particularly in Figure 4, and held against further opening movement by engagement of the blade 3'7 on the lever with a selected one of the teeth of the ratchet plate 36. The lever is free to move rearwardly of the ratchet plate to permit complete or partial closing of the doors. By setting the doors thus in partiallyopened position a space is provided between them, and particularly at the level of the notches or seats 33, sufficient to permit the passage of, the head and jowls of a hog (or otheranimal),but not wide enough to permit his shoulders topass through; and the degree of opening of the doors manually is regulated and determined by the size of the animal to be engaged. The animal after entering the crate extends his head through the space between the doors but his progress is checked by engagement of his shoulders with the margins of the doors. Then he may, and usually will, at-

tempt towithdraw his head from between the doors, which action has the result of pulling the doors rearwardly toward closing position, the lever 34 sliding freely on the ratchet plate, and this causes the doors by their free margins to engage and hold the 1 animal fast so that he cannot move in either direction. -While so held it is convenient to place a ring in the animals nose, administer medicine or other treatment to him, or perform other operations which maybe indicated. This method ofengaging andholding the animal is automatic as above described, and is particularly effective for ringmg or other operations'onthe animals head, as the head projects without the crate where it is accessible while the body is entirely within the crate: v V

The automatic engaging and holding function may be employed when the device is used as a loading hute' as previously de-' scribed, whereby the animat is "confined at the forward or upper end of the device, thus facilitating the manual tilting and loading of the chute with its load.

I claim as my invention- 1. An animal-catching crate, comprising an enclosure, a pair of doors hinged at their outer margins at one end of the enclosure, a lever arranged for oscillation, an operating bar slidably mounted and having pivotal connections with said lever, flexible connections between said operating bar and the vtree marginal portions of said doors, a

ratchet adapted to be engaged by said lever to permit closing movement of said doors but preventing opening movement thereof, and a cross-head fixed to the forward end of said operating bar and adapted to engage the outer faces of said doors.

2. An animal-catching crate, comprising 20 an enclosure, a pair of doors hinged at their outer margins at one end of said enclosure, a lever arranged for oscillation, an operating bar slidably mounted and having pivotal connections with said lever, flexible connections between said operating bar and the free marginal portions of said doors, means to prevent oscillation of said lever in one direction, and a cross head fixed to the free end of said operating bar and adapted to engage the outer faces of said doors, aid cross-head being formed with rearwardly inclined portions at its ends adapted to be received within notches in said doors, whereby said cross-head fits snugly against and in confining relation to said doors when in closed position.

Signed at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, this 14th day of April, 1922.

ABRAHAM L. ALLRED. 

